Dr Mandaviya Inaugurates 5 New Facilities at ICMR-NITM to Address Infectious Pathogens

This initiative seeks to strengthen ICMR–NIMR’s biomedical infrastructure, incorporating advanced medical equipment and facilities designed to accommodate the latest breakthroughs in medical science.

In a significant step forward for medical research and public health, Union Minister of Health, Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers Dr Mansukh Mandaviya has inaugurated five new facilities at the ICMR National Institute of Malaria Research (ICMR-NIMR) today.

Exploring a range of health issues, the institute will feature an advanced BSL3 laboratory that addresses infectious pathogens of public health significance.

At the event, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya highlighted that this move is an important step towards eliminating malaria in the country by 2030.

‘’The facilities that we are inaugurating today in the service of the country show that India is ready to move forward step by step with the world. Today, organisations like ICMR are becoming increasingly strong on the strength of their work and are reaching the leading position in their field across the world,’’ the Minister added.

This initiative seeks to strengthen ICMR–NIMR’s biomedical infrastructure, incorporating advanced medical equipment and facilities designed to accommodate the latest breakthroughs in medical science. Moreover, these enhancements will contribute to improved patient outcomes and a more efficient healthcare delivery system.

Built at a cost of INR 38.54 Cr ICMR-NITM’s new building has two blocks with G+3 floors covering an area of 9292.65 sq m. It includes departments of Ethnomedicine, Pharmacology and Health Systems Research in the front block along with other amenities and facilities.

The other block houses the Central Instrumentation Facilities that will open for all academics and researchers under the ICMR’s I-RISE (Instrument Resource Sharing Platform), the natural product chemistry laboratory, bioinformatics, animal cell culture, microbiology and molecular biology laboratories. Further, it also includes a viral diagnostic research laboratory that caters to the diagnostic needs of the region for rapid identification of outbreaks of viral infections.

ICMR-NITM is one of the 27 institutes of the Indian Council of Medical Research. It started as a Regional Medical Research Centre in 2006 from makeshift laboratories. Later, it was upgraded to NITM with a research mandate to explore evidence-driven integration of traditional and modern medicine for stronger health systems in the year 2017.

Days back, ICMR planned to collaborate with manufacturing companies for malaria detection tech transfer. Under this collaboration, ICMR is set to grant companies the rights to further develop, manufacture, sell, and commercialise the diagnostic technology.

Further, ICMR-NIMR institute's technical oversight, coupled with the companies’ manufacturing capabilities, will speed up the process to ensure a smooth transition from development to widespread commercial use.